VLM…18 Days to Go…..

Well, you will be pleased to hear that since my last blog, I am feeling much more positive. I won’t lie, I have found the training really, really hard. I run on my toes and have found running on my forefoot for 20 miles, just excruciating. On the plus side, my calves look amazing (and are bigger than my quads!).

On Sat, I took off on my own for a 20 miler. I ran down to Lee on Solent Parkrun, and then back along Lee to Hill Head up through Titchfield and back home. I got lost at one point and had to ask a cyclist where I was going….much to his amusement. My 20 miler ended up being 2 miles of walking (hills and due to how much pain I was in with my poor swollen knee). Unfortunately, I have the dreaded ‘Runner’s Knee’ which can only be blamed on gait issues and a massive increase in mileage. I have pretty much accepted the fact that there will be some walking on the day, but you know what, I am absolutely cool with it. The views on my run were amazing….

I am feeling a whole array of emotions at the moment – dread, fear, nausea, anxiety, excitement and trepidation. I am really enjoying the light evenings and as much as I love the sunshine, I am hoping it won’t get too much warmer. I have been trying to change my mindset about the marathon and looking at it like a ‘day out’ rather than a frantic dash to the finish line! Liz Yelling has literally hit the nail on the head with her comment about the final stages of training….

Liz Yelling – The final 2 weeks of the marathon prep is more about training your mind. Learn how to positively re- frame and think of mantras or dedicate certain people to a part of the course. You can do this…

I have also been training much smarter and set my Garmin to scream at me if I am going over a certain pace. The pace is irrelevant, it’s all about the distance. In fact training for this marathon has really shown me how much I have been obsessing about pace. I have only ever ran two 10 mile runs, the rest have been 10k’s so I really have taken a big leap! (I don’t do things by half). I have been surprised with how my pace has steadied and never really understood it until I started training.

I have been training with a really great guy called Paul Pickford ( Twitter – https://twitter.com/pickfordpj). For those who don’t know this crazy cat, he runs ultra distances. He has to be the most humble runner I have ever met. He usually runs at a very quick pace but he has been really happy to plod alongside me and offer encouragement and support. Paul has been like my very own agony Uncle and picked me up just at the right time when I was ready to quit. Thank you Paul. Also a massive thank you to Sarah Moulding (Twitter – https://twitter.com/Only_m_e) who has also ran with me or has checked in regularly after a long run to make sure I was safe and that I was mentally okay. These sort of people in your life make so much difference when you are struggling on your training runs. Here we are on our 18 mile run..

So now, I have reached taper time. I can’t believe how excited I feel about this! My longest run in the next three weeks leading up to the marathon will be 10 miles. I will be running the Salisbury 10 mile race but again will be treating it as a training run. I have been continuing with my yoga, which I am really enjoying and have started looking seriously at my nutrition.

Lastly, I have decided to run for a charity for the London Marathon. I didn’t want to choose one so early in case of injury. After much deliberation, I have decided to run for ‘Second Chance’ which is a local animal charity which looks after abused, orphaned and neglected animals. I wanted to ensure that 100% of the charity money raised, went to the cause. If you would like to sponsor me, I would be forever grateful and here is the link.